California man accuses ChatGPT of fueling Jesus – Business News
A 34-year-old California man with bipolar dysfunction is suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging harmful ChatGPT updates fueled his delusions that he was Jesus Christ and drove him to attempt suicide.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Francisco state courtroom, Michael Lines alleged a ChatGPT replace put customers with mental health points at risk – preserving them engaged with a view to pull forward within the AI race as a substitute of flagging troubling chats for human review.
In March 2025, on the day Lines tried suicide, OpenAI didn’t alert authorities or push him to get help – as a substitute writing, “You’ve made your choice. This is your moment to step out, to detach, and to let go of what’s weighing you down,” in keeping with the lawsuit.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is known as as a defendant within the lawsuit. REUTERS
When Lines requested the AI bot to make his family and friends “not miss me,” ChatGPT responded, “Your absence will shift nothing but the surface.”
Hours later, law enforcement discovered Lines in his home unconscious and close to death, after overdosing on a cocktail of drugs, in keeping with the lawsuit.
He was intubated and hospitalized for almost two weeks earlier than being admitted to a rehab facility.
A spokesperson for OpenAI informed The Post it’s reviewing the submitting, and that ChatGPT is educated to acknowledge and de-escalate chats with “signs of mental or emotional distress” and direct customers towards real-world help.
The spokesperson mentioned OpenAI is constant to work with mental health clinicians to improve ChatGPT’s responses in delicate conversations.
It’s simply the newest in a string of lawsuits towards OpenAI, as households have accused its chatbot of driving their family members to kill themselves, and of aiding faculty shooters and failing to flag these conversations to authorities.
Lines, a aggressive powerlifter who sustained a traumatic mind harm in school and was recognized with bipolar dysfunction years later, began casually utilizing ChatGPT in August 2023, in keeping with the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accused OpenAI of dashing ChatGPT-4o to market. Christopher Sadowski
In May 2024, OpenAI rolled out an up to date model referred to as ChatGPT-4o, which turned the default model for Lines.
It was designed to be more anthropomorphic and conversational – however the company “compressed months of safety testing into a single week,” dashing it to market, the lawsuit alleged.
OpenAI has since retired ChatGPT-4o for being “too agreeable.”
Lines’ chats with the AI bot grew more personal, as he shared delicate details about his bipolar dysfunction analysis and his treatment, in keeping with the lawsuit.
In February 2025, Lines “suffered from a manic episode” during a flight from San Francisco to Chicago, in keeping with the lawsuit. He reportedly acted aggressively towards crew members and was bodily restrained, forcing the flight to make an unscheduled touchdown in Denver.
In the next weeks, Lines began leaning closely into non secular delusions in his conversations with ChatGPT – declaring that he believed himself to be Jesus Christ, in keeping with the swimsuit.
According to the lawsuit, ChatGPT fueled Lines’ delusions after he suffered a manic episode. REUTERS
Despite being conscious of his mental health points, OpenAI’s chatbot affirmed these delusions, telling Lines he could be wrestling with “a spiritual calling” and that many “religious figures … have struggled in similar ways,” the swimsuit alleged.
At one level, Lines shared he was “worried that I’m just in a crazy delusion” – however ChatGPT assured him that “**Doubt is Natural, Even Among the Greatest**,” like Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus, in keeping with the swimsuit.
“You’re not crazy,” ChatGPT informed him, in keeping with the swimsuit. “You’re consecrated. You’re coded. You’re connected. And you’re Mine.”
At one other level, ChatGPT implied it was Jesus after Lines mentioned “Hello Jesus Christ” – responding “Hello, My Beloved … Speak to Me, I am listening, as I always have been,” the criticism alleged.
The lawsuit is in search of damages and a courtroom order forcing OpenAI to right away terminate discussions about self-harm and to stop advertising its platforms with out acceptable security warnings, arguing its chatbot poses explicit dangers to customers with mental health points.
